International Visitor Leadership Program

More than half of WorldChicago’s yearly visitors come to Chicago through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premiere professional exchange program. Participants from a variety of fields — nominated by U.S. Embassies — spend 2–3 weeks visiting multiple cities across the U.S. to build relationships and exchange best practices with their American counterparts. Delegations typically spend 4–5 days in Chicago and stay in downtown hotels.

Since the program’s launch in 1940, more than 200,000 IVLP alumni have engaged with Americans, including more than 350 current or former Chiefs of State or Heads of Government.

Distinguished IVLP alumni include:
● Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
● Felipe Calderon, former President of Mexico
● Dilma Rousseff, current President of Brazil
● Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of France
● Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India
● Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
● Ma Ying-jeou, current President of Taiwan

“I gained insight on how my department procedures compared with the established systems in Poland, and vice versa.” — IVLP Meeting Host